October /?od
The good word? Academics at UK, my friend
On the hoop scene, Sutton's at it again
It happened late in World War JJ. I was in high school and several of us wanted to go to Lexington to see the 11th Regional Basketball Tournament at Alumni Gym.
If
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Earl Cox
1   Cats' Pause Columnist
There was just one problem None of us had a car and even if we had, gas rationing was in effect. But seven or eight of us pooled our meager resources and hired a taxi to take us to Lexington.
During the ride, the driver heard us talking about UK The only educational institutions this fellow had ever been inside were one-room schools.
Finally, his curiosity got the best of him. He asked the question that I will never forget:
"Hey, guys, is there a schoolhouse at UK?"
During these days of the basketball mess, we often forget that there are indeed school houses at the University of Kentucky. And there is a whole lot of learning going on. The brightest kids in the history of the university are now on campus.
No longer can a diploma from an accredited Kentucky high school get a youngster admitted to UK This figure, provided by Dr. David Roselle, president of the university, is startling: This year's freshman class of 2,600 was chosen from an applicant pool of over 11,000.
That's right. Over 8,000 were turned down by UK this year!
Roselle is proud that National Merit Scholars are not a rarity on campus. The university has its first faculty member of the National Academy of Sciences. The university is now one of the top 45 public schools in research.
About the only bad news is that Roselle doesn't have the funds to keep his best teachers or to attract even better ones. Our state never has supported any of its schools well enough.
So it turns out that all of the news erninating from UK isn't bad. Roselle takes advantage of his public appearances to spread the word about the good things at UK, too.
WHAT HAPPENED? - But there was an interesting turnaround involving Roselle last week At the annual fall meeting of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association in Lexington, I congratulated Roselle for his honesty and courage when he appeared for two hours with Milton Metz on WHAS radio. He spared no words and was adamant that anyone who was proven guilty in the NCAA probe would be punished.
Roselle didn't talk very long about basketball to the broadcasters and rushed off without answering any questions. Not one.
Completey open earlier in the week with Metz, the UK president was now different.
What happened?
I started asking questions. The major thing that I learned is that a mutual friend of Governor Wallace Wilkinson and UK basketball coach Eddie Sutton
had asked Wilkinson to call Roselle and ask that he go easier on the coach. Amazing.
It was the first time since John Y. Brown Jr. asked former president Otis Singletgary to fire football coach Fran Curd and hire George Allen that a governor had involved himself in UK athletics.
Roselle called the current period "a very unhappy time in university athletics."
When he finished talking about basketball, a camera man from Lexington television station WLEX-18 turned out his light
'T quit talking about basketball," Roselle explained to the crowd. "The local paper has five guys covering basketball but someone gave us $2 million and we got a little squib back in the paper."
Roselle said that the 'biggest asset the university has is the support of people around the Commonwealth."
SUTTONS GAG - Sutton reacted to his problems by gagging his players and restricting media access to them. I Hke Sutton; I want you to understand that. But he is acting like a little kid who takes his ball and goes home. And I will be so bold as to say that if anyone should wear a gag, it is Sutton. His mouth has caused him and the university unnecessary problems.
As I think I've told you before, Sutton had checks made with Indiana University and Georgetown University to see what the media policies are of those schools. That, as I have told Sutton, is utterly ridiculous and shows contempt for the media covering the UK basketball team.
UK has a competent sports information director, Chris Cameron. Sutton should listen to his advice.
Cameron is the expert in this field, Sutton isn't If the latter doesn't change his childish policy, Roselle should step in. If the president has the guts, that is.
BLUE-WHITE GAMES - The Wildcats will scrimmage Nov. 1 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, on Nov. 3 at Nelson County, on Nov. 7 at Rupp Arena and on Nov. 11 at the Owensboro Sportscenter. Tickets are $5 and $3.50.
REX AT INDY - Rex Chapman and his Charlotte Hornet teammates will play the Indiana Pacers at Indianapolis on Monday, Dec 12. The only other former UK player in the National Basketball Association is Kenny Walker with the New York Knicks. Sam Bowie, recovering from an injury, isn't expected to play for Portland, but he's on the Trail Blazers' roster.
NBA COACHES - Four NBA coaches have Kentucky connections, but only two are natives. One of the natives is Wes Unseld, the AH-American at U of L who coaches Washington. Do you know the other? Think about it a minute.
Two other NBA coaches with state connections are BeHarmine College graduate John MacLeod of Dallas and UKs Pat Riley of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Give up on the other Kentucky native?
He's Bemie Bickerstaff of Harlan County. The San Diego graduate coaches Seattle.
TOO MUCH CREDIT? - Was someone at UK smart enough to choose the busiest sports day of the year to announce the other NCAA allegations against the basketball program? Or did UK just get lucky?
Trunk about it. With the World Series and college football, UK picked the day to assure that the university would get the least play possible nationally.
Kentucky's Eddie Sutton should look to Chris Cameron for PR advice, not Bobby Knight